Launches £750,000 fund to expand diverse youth access to aviation careers

The UK Department for Transport and Aviation Minister Keir Mather announced a new £750,000 round of the Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund, administered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Now in its fifth year, the initiative provides grants to UK organisations delivering outreach, mentoring and STEM workshops aimed at encouraging young people—especially those from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds—to pursue careers in aviation and aerospace. The programme targets 16+ year-olds and seeks to remove socioeconomic barriers to technical roles such as piloting, engineering, air traffic control and aircraft maintenance. The announcement followed Farnborough International Airshow and coincides with rising labour demand in UK transport infrastructure.